"I thank my God every time I remember you."

As some of you may know, before I came to Northbrook, I spent over 20 years serving
in Youth Ministry for several different churches in North Georgia. I always like to say, “In
my previous life, I was a Youth Director.”
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In addition, as some of you may know as well, I served for over 8 years at Lawrenceville
First UMC, where Davis Chappell (one of Northbrook’s former pastors) was the Senior
Minister and Andrew Chappell (his son and another Northbrook former pastor) was in
my Youth Program. See above for a nice throwback photo of me and Andrew from
around 19 years ago give or take at a beach retreat with the youth group…

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a former student’s wedding.
This student was also from Lawrenceville First UMC and one that I had known since
she was about 4 years old. And now she’s 27 and married! It was a true joy and honor
to be a small part of her wedding day. People ask me all the time, if helping participate
in former students’ wedding celebrations makes me feel “old.” And honestly, I know it
probably should, it really doesn’t. I think it’s more just feeling like a proud older
brother/fun uncle. And really for me, it’s about thanking God for allowing me to be a
small part of their life journeys. My prayer for them has always been that they would
stay strong in their faith, make great decisions with their lives and find happiness with
whomever they end up with.

I think about Paul’s letter to the Phillippians in Chapter 1, Verse 3, where he says, “I
thank my God every time I remember you.” That’s how I think about these former
students and how grateful I am for the time I had with each one of them.

And my Northbrook friends, I am thankful for each one of you! God has blessed us all
with such a wonderful community of faith. As we journey through this life, my prayer for
each one of you (as it is for my former students): that you would stay strong in your
faith, make great decisions with your lives and find happiness with whoever you end up
with. Until we meet again…

​Allen Whittaker
Executive Director